Nagpur youths raise their voice against CAA, NRC without any political support

NAGPUR: The city youths after two unsuccessful attempts on December 21 and January 2 finally gathered to register their first protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Samvidhan Square here on Saturday.
The 80 something youth, under the banner of Nagpur Youth Organization (NYO), took out a peaceful march under tight police watch without the support of any organization or political outfit.“We were expecting a bigger crowd. But we are happy that we could convey our message to the Centre,” said an activist of NYO.
The youths planned their first march outside VNIT gate on December 21, 2019 against CAA but the permission was withdrawn at the last minute for unexplained reasons. A handful of those gathered were forcibly evicted from the spot by policemen. On January 2 also, the protest was withdrawn as Union home minister Amit Shah, the brain behind the law, was in the city.
Expressing their anger against the suppression of dissent, youths read out poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s lines, ‘Hum dekhenge, laazmi hai ki hum bhi dekhenge’, and lyricist Varun Grover’s satire, ‘Hum kagaz nahi dikhayenge’, beside strong calls for ‘Azaadi’ from terrorism, poverty, unemployment, attacks on women, pollution, hunger, infant deaths, bigotry, social injustice, etc.
The youths slammed the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) on which the Modi government did a complete U-turn since December 29.
A protester said the fear of alleged police excesses were writ large on the minds of several youths who wanted to come but were apprehensive especially after what happened at VNIT gate and in several parts of Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
NYO representatives said, “This is just a beginning. We expected the opposition parties to do this but sadly we had to do their roles. Someone had to do it and hence we came forward. We aim to initiate a dialogue in society,” they said.
Alike the ‘azaadi’ sloganeering elsewhere in the country, these youths shouted, “Azaadi Azaadi Azaadi. tum goli chalao…tum police bula lo….garib mange, mahila mange, azaadi … atankwaad se, bhukhmari se, berozgari se azaadi.”
A group of middle-aged working Muslim women too joined the youths. “Are all other issues prevalent in the country resolved that the government is worried about this mission only? We are followers of the Constitution and we are here for all our brothers and sisters,” they said.
A woman teacher said, “Modi and Shah have been dragging the country 70 years behind.”